Display multi-layers list item in web-browser with supporting of concurrent multi-users

ABSTRACT

Computer user working environment has been evolved from punch card &amp; paper tape to mouse click native window based in past few decades. This invention takes the course of this continuing evolution and creating a web based computer user work environment for a control management station and its associated systems on the network crossing Intranet, Internet or LAN. Therefore, users can access and manage the control management station and all its associated system through web browser on any other systems or devices. To establish a web based computer user work environment, the resources information on control management station and on associated systems on network need to be collected and convert them to standard structured format for web based communication and further displaying them in web browser. These information need to be collected by control management station at its and the associated systems&#39; boot up time or at the time when user login and request to access and manage these resources. To best present all resources to users and provide users a flexible environment to access and manage these resources in web environment, a traditional multi-layered item list can be creatively deployed in this web based computer user work environment.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is the continuation of the previous two inventions, application number 10/713,904, of “Concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System” and 10/713, 905 of “IP Based Distributed Virtual SAN”. The present invention focuses on multiple users concurrent interacting in web-based computer user work environment for multiple computers to display, view, access & operate various system resources by using multi-layers items list on web-browser through mouse click for the central controlled distributed scalable virtual machine. In addition, this invention focus on the methods and steps the establishment of the web-based computer user work environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The evolution of computer user work environment has changed from paper tape or punch cards of early years to command line user work environment on a native system in 70th, and to window & mouse click environment on a native system in the middle 80th. There are some network based user work environment exists since in 89^(th) and 90^(th) such as Microsoft's terminal service, the Telnet of Unix & Linux system etc. These types of software let users to access and operate the target system from another system remotely. There are some network management software, which mostly focus on monitoring the targeted systems' network activities. In addition, all of the software mentioned has limited mobility and capability because all of them need to install the specialized software on remote system. Therefore, these types of software are not easy to be ported and further limit the user's ability to remotely work from various kind systems or devices.

There are some web-based application software exists, which allow users to access web applications on a web server from a web browser on a remote system or device. However, these types of software do not design for manage resource on web server and do not design for creating a web based computer environment. There are web-based software to allow people to manage system remotely. However, they do not create a web-based computer user work environment but to dump the existing computer user work environment of a system to a web browser on a remote system. Also, this type of software has limited network capability.

A new web-based computer user work environment (WCUWE) has been invented and described in previous two invention of “Concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System”, 2002 and in “IP Based Distributed Virtual SAN”, 2002 by same inventor. However, the notion of WCUWE has not been fully developed and not been fully described in previous two inventions. Therefore, this invention will continue to describe the more details of how can the WCUWE of the central controlled distributed scalable virtual machine (CCDSVM) be formed and how to achieve and realize a flexible working environment for users of CCDSVM. The WCUWE can provide users to access and operate the provisioned systems of CCDSVM from any web browser on any remote system or electronic devices. Due to the capability of expanding CCDSVM crossing Intranet and Internet and its strong security control, the WCUWE can meet the ever increased demanding for a more secure, more mobilized, more flexible and more cost saving computational solution.

For the convenience of describing this invention, the following items of terminology have been clarified.

Terminology

CCDSVM:

It is an abbreviation for central controlled distributed scalable virtual machine. The CCDSVM allows a control management station to control a group of systems and provide distributed services to client system in Intranet and Internet as well as in LAN environment. The software components of CCDSVM form the virtual operating environment or system.

Computer User Work Environment (CUWE):

Every computer system provides end users a work environment (CUWE), which usually runs on top of a generic computer operating system. The CUWE allows user to setup authentication profile for each different users, to configure system resources from storage, network, file system, file folders structure etc, files and all other available on system, to monitor system activities, to access applications, and to manage data files such as moving data from one folder to another folder or moving data from one system to another system etc.. Specially, the CUWE provides multi-users with multi-task mechanism. Therefore, multiple users and each of them can perform multiple tasks described above concurrently after their successful login.

Web-Based Computer User Work Environment (WCUWE):

The web-based computer user work environment (WCUWE) runs on top of generic operating system for a single or multiple computers. It allows users work on one or multiple computer systems through a conventional web-browser either remotely from other system & devices such as laptop, PDA, desktop etc. or locally from the native system. It provides great mobility and flexibility to user. The WCUWE can run on top of actual generic operating system. With this web-based computer user work environment the entire CCDSVM system can be operate like a single virtual machine.

The Resources (of the Computer System or Electronic Devices):

The resources on a computer or any other electronic device refers to CPU, memory, storage device, network device, monitor or other display devices, keyboard, mouse, photo or video record devices, wireless device, user authentication profiles, and various form of deposited data on storage. Of course, these mentioned just are typical resources but they are not limited to these in this invention. The deposited data on storage could be file system structure, the folders, data files, formed raw data etc. and does not limited to these in this invention. The data file can be in all kind of form such as plain text form, binary data form, PDF form, MPEG or JPEG form, or other various image data form, MS power point data form or Word documentation form etc. The mentioned data depository is just for illustrating and actually does not limited to these in this invention. The storage could be in any media form such as hard disk drive, magnetic tape drive, various form of memory devices, or others suitable media. The storage mentioned here is just for illustration, which shall not limit the scope of storage mentioned in this invention. In addition, in the rest of discussion whenever involving resource of the computer system or devices, there is no need to further provide detailed description mentioned here.

The Standard Structured Information (For Web Communication):

The web browser can interpret the standard structured format (formatted information) and display them in web pages so that people can view, manipulate, and interact with these information. The standard formatted information are imposed and encoded by following the syntax of the programming language such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), XHTML, DHTML, XML, or any other various suitable languages, whichever can best to describe the structured information. The languages mentioned here are just for illustrating only, which does not limit the scope of this invention. In the real life, these languages (HTML, XML, . . . ) themselves are often unfortunately refer as standard format for web instead of as a language. Therefor, in this invention, there is no and not necessary to have a clear boundary between these two different entities. In other words, they are often be used interchangeably in this invention without further mention the differences.

Multi-layered Item list (MLIL):

It is a logically organized information list with certain order, which each entry contains an item and each items may contain another layer of list of items, where each items may represent a physical resources or information of the computer systems or other devices. For example, the information of files and folders of a file system on a modem computer system is typically organized as multi-layers item list and can be entirely viewed, displayed & operated on modem UI window of native system with supporting from modern computer operating system. Each item (node) on list may represent a folder or file. The information of systems or devices on the network, the information of hardware components on a systems such as disks, network cards, memory etc, the information of multiple users of a system are also can be organized into multiple layers of item list for view, display and operation. The supporting of the MLIL in the WCUWE made the system resources and information much easy to be displayed, viewed, and operated from a browser. The MLIL may contain at least one item (node) and as many as multiple hundreds item (node).

The System:

The system, which mentioned in this invention, can be a desktop, laptop, various types of server, PDA, or cell phone or other devices with communication ability anywhere on net. These systems mentioned here just for illustrating and do not limit the scope of the system mentioned in this invention. Also, in the rest of discussion, it will not further to differentiate the term of system. The system in this invention shall be regarded as independent of the hardware system.

The OS (operating system):

The OS mentioned in this invention can be any suitable operating system such as Windows, Linux, various Unix, real-time operating system and others. The OS mentioned here are just for illustration purpose, and therefore, they do not intend to limit the scope of this invention regarding with OS. This invention shall be regarded as independent of OS platform.

Programming Languages:

The programming languages, which used for implementing all software mentioned in this invention, could be any suitable languages or a combination of the suitable languages. These languages are C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, C sharp, HTML, XML, DHTML, XHTML, and others. The languages mentioned here are just for illustration purpose, therefore, this shall not limit to the scope of this invention with regarding to the actual languages can use in this invention.

Communication Protocols:

The communication protocols used in CCDSVM could be various kind for whatever is appropriate for transmitting required data over communication link. The communication protocol over a communication link could be IP-based protocols or non-IP-based. The IP based protocols are built on top of IP protocol and could be standard based such as TCP protocol, UDP protocol, ICMP protocol, and others, and also can be non-standard proprietary protocols. The non-IP based protocols can be ISO 8473, ISO 8208, or serial communication, or data link layer protocols like LLC 802.2, or HDLC, or any proprietary protocols bellow the IP protocol level. The protocols mentioned above just for illustration purpose and this shall not limit the scope of this invention with regarding the protocols can be used. This invention simply is protocol independent.

The Communication Protocols For Web:

The communication protocols for web computing could be HTTP, SOAP, WAP, or others. These mentioned protocol for web computing are just for illustration purpose and shall not limit the scope of using other protocols in this invention

The Web Browser:

The web browser mentioned in this invention may be an existing commercial software from any vendor such as Microsoft IE or Netscape, or Firefox, or Mozillar, or any other commercial or proprietary software. The web browser must be able to handle web protocols such as HTTP, SAOP, WAP or others and be able to interpret the standard structured formatted information and further to let user to view the contents transmitted over HTTP. The protocols described here are just for illustrating purpose only, which does not limit the other protocols to be used for web commnunication.

The Web Server Software:

The web server software mentioned in this invention could be a commercial software from any vendors such as Apache, IIS, or others on the market, and it also can be a proprietary software. The web server software must be able to handle web protocols such as HTTP, which is a protocol built on top of TCP protocol. Therefore, the structured information for web can be transmitted to web browser over communication link if these two software are located on different system or through inter-process communication if both software are located on the same system.

User Session With CCDSVM:

A user session is started at a time user login to CCDSVM from a web-browser and ended at a time user logout CCDSVM from the same web browser, which user had login previously. During a session, users can perform tasks, which has been permitted by the security profile.

FIGURES

FIG. 1: An example of typical CCDSVM with multiple systems and clients.

FIG. 2: Variation of CCDSVM:

-   -   a) This is a figure of an example of CCDSVM with a single         control management station.     -   b) This is a figure of an example of CCDSVM with identical         client host and system unit.     -   c) This figure is an example of CCDSVM with client hosts for         non-web based accessing.

FIG. 3: An example of software of WCUWE for CCDSVM.

FIG. 4: An simplified example of Multi-Layered Item List (MLIL).

FIG. 5: Examples of operation menu for WCUWE of CCDSVM.

FIG. 6: Example of operation menu for different type of node on MLIL.

FIG. 7: An example of server units grouped by group ID.

FIG. 8: Examples of MLIL combined with mixed devices, system units and groups.

In the drawing, like elements are designated by like reference numbers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The previous invention, application Ser. No. 10/713,904 of “Concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System”, described the creation and the benefits of the web-based computer user work environment (WCUWE) and the multi-task support in WCUWE. The previous invention “IP Based Distributed Virtual SAN” described how can the system units of CCDSVM be automatically and dynamically provisioned or grouped to form one or multiple various service pools in cross-domain environment. With the WCUWE, the entire CCDSVM can be accessed and managed from web-browser anywhere on the net. In addition, it permits multiple users, each from their own web-browsers on a system or device anywhere on the net to concurrently access and manage the CCDSVM with multi-tasking capability.

Since the emergence of the native window & mouse click based computer user work environment (CUWE) in middle of 80's, users are able to display, view and operate information and resources of the computer systems or devices by mouse-click through corresponding multi-layered item list such as files & folders list on MS Window system, on Linux/Unix System, and on Apple Mackintosh etc.. In other words, supporting multi-layered item list has become a critical part of mouse-click & window based computer user work environment. However, with new WCUWE for the CCDSVM, how to let multiple concurrent users to effectively simultaneously display, view & operate item list in a single web-browser for corresponding resource such as for deeply nested files & folders, or for multi-group provisioned systems or devices etc. has became an increased unprecedented challenge. The previous two inventions mentioned before and together with this invention have successfully solved this challenge.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become understood with reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying figures where:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: shows an example simplified block diagram of an embodiment of typical CCDSVM, which includes

a) Console hosts (1):

Console host can be any system on the net and can have any suitable OS running on. It must have a web browser 9 installed, which to be used for accessing and operating the entire CCDSVM. The web-browser can be implemented with any suitable or a combination of suitable programming languages. Web-Console is another name for web-browser 9 on a console host. From web browser 9 by following a web URL link of another system or on the same system, the users can obtain a WCUWE and further to access, manage and operate the entire system. The term of the web-console used instead of using the term of web browser due to its ability to access system information and perform system operation in CCDSVM environment by privileged users. The console host may also include other software modules 13, which may be implemented with any suitable programming languages. These software modules may communicate with control management station 2 using IP based, non-IP based protocols or any suitable protocols to receive or send data between console host and control management station 2. To support a non-web-based networked console, the software used for console must handle protocol other than web protocol such as HTTP, SOAP, WAP or any others and this software must communicate with console supporting software 6 on control management station 2. The console host 1 is same as client system 10 except it is dedicated to the user who takes the system administration role for CCDSVM.

b) Control management station (2):

The control management station 2 could be any system on the net and can have any suitable OS running on it. The control management station 2 includes web server software 7 and console supporting software 6. The console supporting software 6 includes web server interface software modules 5 and control management software modules 4. The control management station 2 may also have native Web browser used as a web-console 9 of native system. The web server software 7 sends data to and receives data from web-console 9 of console hosts 1 or from web-browser of client 10 based on HTTP or any other suitable protocols for web contents delivery. The web server software 7 can be implemented with any suitable or a combination of any suitable programming.

The console supporting software 6 can be implemented with any suitable or a combination of suitable programming languages. In addition, the communication protocol used between console support software 6 and service software modules 8 of system units 3 could be any suitable protocol. The web server interface 5 of console support software 6 may be extended to provide service as web server 7 does. In this case there is no specialized web server 7 software needed.

c) System unit (3),

System unit 3 could be any systems and can have any suitable OS running on it. The system units 3 contain service software modules 8, which is capable to communicate with outside of world. For example, the service software modules 8 of system unit 3 can communicate with control management software 4 of control management station 2 to carry out the tasks for viewing or operating on its resource. It also can communicate with client 10 of CCDSVM to deliver the services to them, or to communicate with another system unit 3 to transfer data etc.

The service software modules 8 may include an individual software module dedicated to handle HTTP protocol or other web protocols if there is needs for web-based communication with client 10 or other system unit 3 or control management station 2. This individual software module could be a commercial web server software on the market or a proprietary software. The service software modules 8 could be implemented with any suitable programming languages, and the communication protocol could be any suitable protocols.

d) The net1 11 is a network infrastructure of Internet or Intranet, or LAN, which provides any communication links between control management station 2 and console-host 1 or client hosts 10. It also provides communication link between system unit 3 and client host 10. The net1 may consist connection media such as cable (Ethernet, optical Fibre, and other), wireless media for wireless link through air, data bus on the circuit board, and it also consists of communication equipment such as switch/routers/adapter, etc. and all other possible elements of communication equipment.

e) The net2 (12) is a network infrastructure of Internet or Intranet, or LAN, which provides any communication links between control management station 2 and the system units 3 or consoles host 1. It also provide the communication link between system unit 3 and client host 10. The net2 consists similar network equipment and elements as net1 11 has.

f) Client host 10:

The client hosts are not part of CCDSVM, but with the permission and authorization, they can get services from and access to CCDSVM using web-browser 9. The web-browser 9 could be either a conventional commercial browser on the market or a proprietary software, which provides compatible functionality to handle and interpreter data on the web.

g) The paths of data flows in CCDSVM:

There are 4 basic data flow paths within this typical CCDSVM configuration and they are listed bellow:

-   -   (1) Data path 1 is the data flow through communication link         between web browser 9 on client host 10 or console host 1 or         control management station 2 and the web handling software on         control management station 2 such as web-server 7 & console         support software 6. With this path of data flow, whenever the         user send request from web-browser 9 to web-server 7 and further         down to console support software 6, the console support software         6 collects all required information from target system and         convert them into standard structured information for web         communication. The targeted system could be system unit 3 or         control management station 2 itself. The information collected         by console support software 6 of control management station 2         could be the system status, or the storage information, or the         network information, or the user authentication profile, or the         file system information or files & folders information on a         target system etc. The collected information does not limit to         these mentioned above in this invention. The console support         software 6 then passes this converted structured information to         web server software 7 and further transmits to web-browser 9         through communication link net1 11 or net2 12 so that it can be         displayed and viewed by a conventional web browser 9.

The communication protocol used between web-browser 9 of client host 10 or console host 1 and web server 7 of control management station 2 could be HTTP or any other suitable protocols for web communication, which could successfully transmit the data on web.

-   -   (2) The data path 2 is the data flow through communication link         between control management station 2 and system units 3. With         this path of data flow, the requests targeted to system units 3         are pass from console support software 6 of control management         station 2 to service modules 8 of system unit 3 through         communication link net2 12. If the responses for those requests         must return back to control management station 2, the service         modules 8 of system unit 3 carry out the requests and then send         the response back to console support software 6 of control         management station 2. The communication protocol used between         console support software 6 of control management station and         service modules 8 of system unit can be any suitable protocols,         whichever is suitable to transmit data between them. The typical         data flow through this path could be the boot message or system         status or network information or storage information of system         unit 3. The actual data flow though this path does not limited         to those mentioned here.     -   (3) The data path 3 is the data flow through communication link         between system units 3 and the client host 10 or console host 1.         With FIG. 1, in some cases, the console support software 6 of         control management station 2 may present a web link, which         pointed to a object on system unit 3, to the user work on         web-browser 9 of client host 10 or console host 1 or control         management station 2. The object pointed by web link on the         system unit 3 could be a file of text, mpeg video, PDF, MS power         point or Word documentation etc., and not limited to these         types, and it also could be a link of another web service         program. From web browser 9, the user can directly access the         information on a system unit 3 pointed by the web link without         go through the control management station again. In this case,         the service modules 8 of system unit 3 must also include a web         server software to directly support web browser 9 access as         mentioned before.

(4) The data path 4 is data flow through communication link between system unit 3 and another system unit 3.

With this path, the service modules 8 of one system unit 3 can directly transmit data or information to service modules 8 of another system unit 3 via communication link net2 12 without go through control management station 2. The communication protocol between system units 3 could be IP-base or any suitable non-IP-based protocol. The data and information transmitted through the path 4 can be various type such a data file. For example, an user on web-browser 9 may walk through a file folder on a system unit 3. Later, the user instructs to transfer a file from current target system unit 3 to another targeted system unit 3 by mouse click, therefore, the data file will be transferred directly between two system units 3 without go through the control management station 2 again.

FIG. 2: The Variation of CCDSVM Configuration Models:

a) This is a figure of an example of CCDSVM with a single control management station. With this model, there is not system unit 3, therefore, the CCDSVM degenerated into a single system and the WCUWE just works for a single system, which is the control management station 2. So that the user from web-browser 9 of console host 1 or client host 10 or control management station 2 can access and operate the entire resource on control management station 2.

b) This is a figure of an example of CCDSVM with identical client host and system unit. This model is exact the same model with typical CCSDVM showed in FIG. 1, except there is no difference between client host 10 and system unit 3 since each system unit 3 also configured with web-browser 9 and each client host 10 also configured with service modules 8. This means each system unit/client shall play both roles of system unit 3 and client host 10 of FIG. 1. With this model, users on each system unit/client, can login control management 2 from web-browser 9 and further access & operate the resources of control management station 2, or any other system unit/client 3 with a security permission.

c) This figure is an example of CCDSVM with non-web accessed client host. This model is exact the same model with typical CCDSVM showed in FIG. 1, except that the client host 10 has its own service modules 14 for non-web based access instead of using web-browser 9 for accessing. For example, if system unit 3 is a SAN unit providing storage volume and the service modules 14 of client host 10 is a driver routine for read and write data to the disk volume on system unit 3. The client host 10 may also have a web-browser 9 to accessing system unit 3 for other purposes except for accessing disk volumes.

FIG. 3: An example of software of WCUWE for a typical CCDSVM.

The software of WCUWE can be implemented with any suitable or a combination of any suitable programming languages such C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, HTML, XML, etc., which means that software of WCUWB is programming language independent.

The software of WCUWE may includes following:

-   -   1) Web server interface modules 5 of console support software 6         on control management station 2.     -   2) Control management modules 4 of console support software 6 on         control management station 2.     -   3) Web server software 7 on control management station. The web         server software 7 could be a commercial web server software on         the marketing such as Apache or MS IIS or others, and also could         be a proprietary software. If web server interface modules 5         provides compatible functionality with Web server software 7,         then web server software 7 is not needed.     -   4) Service software modules 8 on system unit 3. Service software         modules 8 may also consist of a web server software 7 or a         software module, which provide equivalent functionality as web         server software 7 does.     -   5) Web browser 9 on console host I or on control management         station 2 or on client host 10. The web browser 9 could be a         commercial web browser on the market such as MS IE, or Netscape,         and also could be proprietary software modules.

FIG. 4: Simplified examples of Multi-Layered Item list (MLIL).

-   -   a) This is a multi-layered item list contains multiple nodes and         multiple layers. A node on MLIL can be expanded to display         sub-node if there is any by mouse click. The sub-nodes may be         reduced by mouse click the same node again.     -   b) This is a degenerated Multi-layered items list contains         single node and single layer.

FIG. 5: Simplified examples of operation menu for WCUWE of CCDSVM.

-   -   a) A web based drop-down menu for disk volume management. The         drop-down menu can be invoked by right click an item (node) on         MLIL.     -   b) A web based selective menu for system unit management. The         item selected and further click the submit button.

FIG. 6: Simplified examples of operation menu for different type of node on MLIL.

-   -   a) Shows an operation menu for managing the storage (disk).     -   b) Shows an operation menu for managing the file.     -   c) Shows an operation menu to manage the system unit on network.

FIG. 7: An example of system units grouped by group ID.

This figure shows one example of the five system units are divided into two groups, which are marketing group and engineer group. The marketing group contains 2 system units while the engineer group contains 3 system units. The groups are automatically and dynamically form when system units boot up.

FIG. 8: An example of MLIL combined with mixed devices, system units and groups.

-   -   a) This example shows the top level of MLIL is system group, the         second level is system unit, the third level is device of disks.     -   b) This example shows the top level of MLIL is system group, the         second level is system unit, the third level start with the file         folder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The default figure used for this discussion is FIG. 1, therefor, all reference number for designated elements are elements of FIG. 1 unless otherwise specified by other figure number. The FIG. 1 explains the web-based computer user work environment (WCUWE) of CCDSVM provided by the software of WCUWE FIG. 3, which includes console support software 6 & web server software 7 on control management station 2 and service modules 8 on system unit 3.

1: The Initiation of WCUWE:

The WCUWE have been described in multiple places of previous invention of “concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System” and “IP Based Distributed Virtual SAN”. With this invention, the sequence of establishing the WCUWE of CCDSVM will be much clear, with which the software of WCUWE FIG. 3, especially the console support software 6 of control management station 2 need to perform the following:

-   -   a) The console support software 6 collect all major resources         information of the control management station 2 together and         converted these information to standard structured information,         which is viewable by web-browser 9. The resources information         mentioned above include the resources of the storage, network,         file system, files, folders, users, system status etc, which can         be collected whenever the control management station 2 boot up         or at other appropriate time. Such information may be stored in         memory for fast retrieve at later time and also may be stored on         permanent storage such as disks.     -   b) The console support software 6 communicate with service         modules 8 of system unit 3 to collect all major resources         information of system unit 3 together through communication link         net2. Further, the console support software 6 binds the         collected information of system units 3 to the network         information of the control management station 2. In addition,         upon users' accessing, all the said network information are         organized and converted to standard structured format for web         communication, therefore, they are viewable by web-browser 9.         The said network information include the information of the         system units 3 and their storage device, network devices,         wireless devices, video and audio record & playback devices,         file-system, users, system status and all others on net. The         said network information can be collected whenever the system         units 3 boot up or at other appropriate time.

Further, the network information of control management station 2 can be kept in memory for later fast access and can be organized into any suitable logical structure, for example as a simple list of array, linked list, double linked list, hash table, tree structure etc. The network information also can be stored on permanent storage such as disk or others for the backup purpose. In addition, the network information can be stored with any form on permanent storage, which can be a form of various commercial databases, binary record file, flat text ASCII file or others. All specific example of forms of data depository or logical structures mentioned above are for illustration only, and they shall not limit to these mentioned before in this invention.

After the initiation of the WCUWE, the users of WCUWE each login from a single web-browser 9 can concurrently display, view, access, & operate various resources & information of CCDSVM,

2: Users Interaction, Access and Manage Resources with WCUWE:

As described in previous invention of “Concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System”, the users of client host 10, or console host 1, or control management station 2 can login to WCUWE of CCSDVM via a web URL link provided by the software of WCUWE (FIG. 3). The software of WCUWE (FIG. 3) presents information & resources on control management station 2 and on server units 3 to the users after their login from web browser 9. Therefore, whenever an user request to access or operate a major resource either on control management system 2 or system unit 3 of CCDSVM, the software of WCUWE (FIG. 3) create a corresponding user task for such request on the targeted system. As de fact, the software of WCUWE (FIG. 3) support multiple simultaneous tasks for same user from a single web-browser 9 and support multiple concurrent users each from their own web-browser 9 to perform such tasks while provide best protecting for resources being accessed by multi-users.

3: The Use of Multi-Layer Item list in WCUWE:

In order to provide convenience for each login users to perform tasks in WCUWE, the console support software 6 may use a logical structure of multi-layer item list (MLIL) FIG. 4 and the associated web-browser based operation menu (FIG. 5) for corresponding actual multi-level organized resources. The resources as mentioned before could be the file folders of a file system, the system units 3 on the network, the users and their security profile etc. If there is need to create a structured multi-layer item list (MLIL) of FIG. 4 for resources on a target systems at the time each login user try to access and operate, the console support software 6 of control management station 2 needs to do the following:

-   -   a) For each sessions of login users, a memory management module         of console support software 6 creates a MLIL FIG. 4, which can         be flexibly expanded or reduced by mouse clicking on the flying         in web-browser. Further, the console support software 6 makes         association between each created logical structure of MLIL and         the actual targeted resources. The created MLIL can be reside in         memory and can be in any form of a list structure such as a         simple array list, link list, double link list, various tree         structure, or hashed table, etc..     -   b) For each created MLIL FIG. 4 bind the corresponding graphic         or text representation to each node (item) on list for the         purpose of displaying, and associate each nodes (items) with         appropriate attributes. These attributes shall reflect the         nature of the actual resources such as name, type, level, size         etc. and of course it is not limited to these, therefore, the         resources can be correctly displayed through MLIL FIG. 4.     -   c) Link an operation menu to the MLIL. The operation menu can be         either a web-based drop-down menu I of FIG. 5 or a non-drop-down         selective menu 2 of FIG. 5.     -   d) Convert the created MLIL and all its associated information         into the standard structured information for web communication,         which to be viewable and accessible to the web-browser 9.         Therefore, the MLIL can be either viewed by a web-browser 9 on         control management station 2 or viewed by a web-browser 9 on         client host 10 or console host 1. The converted logical item         list needs to be transmitted via communication link net1 11 or         net2 12 from control management station 2 to client host 10 or         console host 1. The converted logical item list can be         transmitted using web protocol such as HTTP or any other         suitable protocols in order for users remotely view it from         web-browser 9.     -   e) After user taking action of either viewing, or operating         resources represented by MLIL, the console support software 6         modifies the MLIL through said memory management module of         console support software 6. Also, the said memory management         module of console support software 6 keeps tracks of memory         usage and status for correspondent MLIL as the results of         expanding or reducing MLIL when user try to access or operate         the resource represented by this MLIL. For example, delete a         file folder operation requires to delete actual folder on file         system and delete the corresponding node on MLIL. Most         importantly, all processes or threads created to perform tasks         of operating the resources represented by MLIL can effectively         share the dynamically modified MLIL with a consistent view         throughout the each users' entire login session. The said memory         management module of console support software 6 may need to         translate and map the initial logical memory address of MLIL to         another logical memory address, therefore, the different         processes or threads of the same user session can effectively         access the same actual MLIL memory object of an user session,     -   f) The steps described from b) to e) above can be repeatedly         processed as long as user keep working on same resource         represented by this specific MLIL.     -   g) For each logout users, the created MLIL for user session will         be deleted through said memory management module of console         support software 6. Further if user stop to access the current         related resource and request to access a total different         resource, the original MLIL will be deleted and a new MLIL will         be created.

2: The Support of Deeply Nested Files & Folders Lists on Systems with WCUWE of CCDSVM:

The accessing and managing file system always has been an important part of any computer user work environment (CUWE) in the past. Supporting a file system to be accessed by users from network has always being a challenge to many vendors. With previous inventions described in “Concurrent web based multi-task support for control management system” and “Distributed Virtual SAN”, user can manage storage volumes of entire CCDSVM from web browser 9 and further can create, manage, and access the file system on either control management station 2 or system unit 3. With a sophisticate method of using multi-layer item list FIG. 4 together with operation menu FIG. 5 for file system in WCUWE of CCDSVM of this invention, users can efficiently access and manage files and folders in file systems from web-browser 9 on the flying without cache anything.

With this method, the multi-layer item lists (MLIL) being used to represent the actual file folder structure of a file system on a target system of CCDSVM with each item represents a folder or a file system or a file. When user walk through the file system and use mouse-click on MLIL to operate a file or folder from web-browser 9, only a small piece information, which related to the file or folder, needs to be retrieved or transmitted between target system of CCDSVM and control management station. For example, if user want to add or delete an item such as a folder, the only major information need to transmit is folder name from control management system 2 to target system and the target system shall carry out the task. If user want to access the information, which bellows the current item on MLIL such as a folder, after sending folder name only information need to retrieve from target system is the sub-folder or file names if there is any under the current folder. If users want to set access permission for a file or a folder on any of target system for one or multiple users to access, the target system information and file or folder information on the net need to be bound with each user's profile. The target systems could be either control management station 2 or system unit 3 of CCDSVM.

If users need to view or edit the content of a file on system unit 3, the file may be transmitted via communication link net 1 & net 2 directly from target system to client host 10 or console host 1, without going through control management station 2. If the file is on control management station 2 and users like to view or edit it from remote system, the file is transmitted via communication net 1 to client host 10 or console host 1. With a proper viewing tool on client host 10 or console host 1 or control management station, which may be invoked from the web-browser 9, the user is able to view the contents of the file. With a proper editor, user can further edit the file and then transmit the file back to the target system. The target system could be either system unit 3 or control management station 2. Alternatively, the file may also be transmitted from target system to control management station 2 and then convert it from original format to a format, which may be viewed and edited in the web-browser. After converting, if the target system is not the control management station 2, the file can be transmitted via communication link net 1 or net 2 from control management station 2 to client-host 10, console host 1 for viewing or editing with a web-browser 9. If the target system is the control management station 2 itself, there is no such transmission required.

3: The Support of the Automatically & Dynamically Provisioned Groups of Systems in WCUWE of CCDSVM:

Network information also is an important part of WCUWE. In previous inventions of “Concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System” and “IP Based Distributed Virtual SAN”, the server unit 3 of CCDSVM can be automatically and dynamically provisioned into multiple groups based on their group ID, where each group contains at least one server unit 3. To effectively access and manage such grouped systems units 3 and their associated devices such storage or network interface cards or terminal monitor or video & audio recorder such as camcorder, or keyboard & mouse, or wireless devices or file systems on network, the multi-layer item list (MLIL) also can be used. Therefore, the mixed information on network can be ordered with top-down fashion from server-group at top level, system units 3 at second level, and devices or file system start from third level and so on with MLIL. More specifically, a node on MLIL with different level or type may associate with a different type of operation menu. For example, a node of system unit 3 on MLIL may associate with an operation menu containing system status, shutdown, storage management, change usage etc. and a node of storage device may associate with operation menu of creating storage volume, displaying storage volume, and delete storage volume etc. so on. After converting all information associated with MLIL to standard structured information, the complex information on network can be viewed and operated by users from web-browser 9. For example, FIG. 7 shows the example of how does system unit 3 being provisioned into multiple groups. FIG. 8 shows the example of how does device such as storage being listed under server units 3 in each group. FIG. 9 shows the example of how does the file system on system unit 3 in a group can be accessed. The method of automatically and dynamically group system units 3 and wisely use the MLIL to represent the diversified resources on network, the entire CCDSVM can be much more efficiently accessed, operated, and managed. For example, through mouse click on web-browser 9, privileged users can create storage volumes from a fresh disk on any target system and make file system on it, mount file system and create folder structure on it, and further setup access control for user with limited privileges. Therefore, the WCUWE can securely let user access from a web-browser 9 anywhere on the network.

4: The Support of the User Administration & Authentication in WCUWN of CCDSVM:

Initially, WCUWE allows a default super user to login WCUWE of CCDSVM and to access the authentication web-page provided by console support software 6. Therefore, this privileged user can setup other privileged or non-privileged users account and their profile thereafter. Similar to file system in WCUWE of CCDSVM, the user profile also can be viewed and operated using a MLIL combined with a web-based operation menu FIG. 5, and further to convert it to standard structured information, which can be viewed and accessed by users from web-browser. Therefore, through mouse click on MLIL of user profile and web-based operation menu in a web page, the user and user profile creating, viewing, updating, deleting and others all can be conveniently performed. Specially, the privileged users can setup profiles for other non-privileged users for secure access control. In addition, the user information and their security profile can be kept in any form of a database, which could be a commercial database on the market, or a plaint text file, or a binary record file, or others.

Miscellaneous:

This invention will not claim for those methods and steps, which have been claimed and discussed in previous two inventions, which includes the followings:

1) “IP based Distributed Virtual SAN” claims from 11 to 15 and from 31 to 33 covers automatically identifying and discovering the system units of CCDSVM and further constructing the service pools by organizing the system units into one or multiple groups.

2) “Concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System” claims from 1 to 15 covers multi-session and multi-task support for web based computer user work environment.

3) “Concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System” claims 19 and 31 covers web based user work environment (WCUWE).

4) “Concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System” claims 30 covers the basic types of tasks can be performed in WCUWE of CCDSVM.

5) “Concurrent Web Based Multi-Task Support for Control Management System” claims 2, 3, 4, 14, 28, 29 covers the basic user security and authentication check.

Miscellaneous 2:

-   -   a) The description of mouse click in this invention implies to         all possible hardware equipment and mechanism, which let user         conveniently interact with node of MLIL. It does not limit to a         specific type of physical mouse in this invention.     -   b) The present invention has been described in considerable         details with preference to certain preferred versions, examples,         and figures; however, other versions, and samples are also         possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims         should not be limited to the description of the preferred         versions and samples contained herein. 

1. The method of creating a web based computer user work environment (WCUWE) of CCDSVM consists following steps: a) Console support software modules of control management station collect all major resources information on control management station and store them in memory or permanent storage of control management station. b) Console support software modules of control management station identify all system units on the network and store the major resource information of system units in memory or permanent storage of control management station. c) Console support software modules of control management station convert the said collected information to standard structured format for web communication and display. d) Console support software modules of control management station provide responses to users when users login WCUWE or after login and request to access and operate these resources information from any web browser on remote system or on control management station.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step b) further comprise the steps of automatically identifying and discovering the system units of CCDSVM and further constructing the service pools by organizing the system units into one or multiple groups based on group ID of the system unit. The said group ID is contained in a packet, which system unit sent to control management station during system unit boot up via communication link between them. The said information of the system units including their IP address, system name, system type and their group ID etc. becomes a resource of network information on control management station.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein major resources be storage devices, network cards, file system, folders, various applications or data files, user profiles, and all other various devices on the systems. The said resources are collected at a time when a system boots up or when users request to access, operate, or manage the said resources. Further, the said resources can be stored in memory with various forms such as simple list of array, linked list, double linked list, hash table, tree structure etc. In addition, the said resources may also be stored in various form of the database such as in commercial database on the market, in a plain text file, in a binary record file, or in any other form. The said various devices can be terminal monitor or video & audio recorder devices such as camcorder, or keyboard & mouse, or wireless devices and all others.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein standard structured format for web communicating and displaying is composed by the specific syntax of the specialized markup languages for web, which include HTML, XML, DHTML, XHTML, WML and others. Multiple Users Session and Multi-Tasks Supports:
 5. The methods of claim 1, wherein step d) further includes the steps of multiple user sessions support and for each user session having multiple concurrent tasking support upon users' request. User Security and Authentication Profiles:
 6. The multi-session and multi-tasks of claim 5 further requires that a) The privileged user must set other users security authentication profiles before allowing other users to login to WCUWE of CCDSVM and to perform various tasks. b) The first privileged user profile is setup at the time of installation of the software of WCUWE. c) The said user security profiles can be stored in memory with various forms such as simple list of array, linked list, double linked list, hash table, tree structure etc. In addition, the said user profiles also need to be stored on permanent storage in the form of the database such as the commercial database on the market, or in a plain text file, or in a binary record file, or in any other form. The said permanent storage could be disk or other storage media d) The privileged user can setup the said user profile for other users from web browser after the privileged user login WCUWE of CCDSVM e) The said user profile contains security attributes to determine the specific user is permitted to access from which remote system, to access which specific systems in CCDSVM, to permit what specific types of tasks on that specific system, and to access what specific files or folders or applications. f) The said security attributes can be encoded into a security data structure, which each fields can be used to specify a unique characteristic security information. Deploying multi-layered items list for managing resource in web based computer user work environment (WCUWE):
 7. The method of claim 1 further includes the steps of deploying multi-layered items list (MLIL) during executing tasks generated by users when they interacting with targeted system resources in WCUWE of CCDSVM, which includes: (a) Create MLIL in memory. (b) Bind and link the associated information with MLIL. (c) Convert the information of MLIL into standard web format. (d) Manage the MLIL during users interaction with MLIL. (e) Delete MLIL in memory.
 8. The deploying multi-layered items list of claim 7 further includes the said multi-layered items list (MLIL) is a logically organized information list with multiple entry and with certain order. The said each entry of MLIL contains an item and each items may contain another layer of list of items, where each items may represent a physical resources or information of the computer systems or other devices. The said MLIL may contain at least one item (node) and as many as multiple hundreds or thousands items (nodes).
 9. The deploying multi-layered items list of claim 7 step (a) further includes steps that the said memory management module of console support software creates a MLIL in memory for each login users and makes association between each MLIL and the actual targeted resources during executing each user's requested task. The said MLIL is created and initiated whenever the said user made request for a task to access or operate the said resources from the web browser. The said tasks may be generated by user through select a node on MLIL or through select an operation from operation menu by for example mouse clicking or other mechanism. The said MLIL can be in any form of a list structure such as a simple array list, link list, double link list, various tree structure, or hashed table, etc..
 10. The deploying multi-layered items list of claim 7 step (b) further includes steps that a) The console support software modules of control management station bind the said MLIL with the appropriate attributes and corresponding graphic or text representation to each node (item) on MLIL of said task for the purpose of displaying. The said attributes for each nodes include the node name, type, level, total number of sub-nodes etc., which reflect the nature and the actual organization of the resources. b) The said each nodes of MLIL of the said task may also be linked with an operation menu. The said operation menu could be a web-based drop-down menu or a non-drop-down selective menu.
 11. The deploying multi-layered item list of claim 7 step c) further includes steps that a) The console support software modules of control management station convert the said MLIL of said task and all its associated said attributes, corresponding graphic or text representation, and the operation menu into the standard structured format for web communication and displaying. Therefore, the said MLIL can be viewed either by web-browser on control management station or on client host or console host.
 12. The deploying multi-layered item list of claim 7 step d) further includes steps that a) The memory management module of the console support software of control management station may modify the said MLIL of the said task upon executing user's requested task of viewing, accessing or operating the resources on targeted system. The said modification of MLIL may result reducing or expanding the MLIL in corresponding to the tasks of deleting or adding resources on the target system. b) The said memory management module of console support software on control management station keeps tracks of memory usage and status for said MLIL of the said tasks whenever the MLIL got modified. Therefore, all processes or threads created in same user session for executing the said tasks can effectively share the dynamically modified MLIL with a consistent view throughout the each users' entire login session. c) The said memory management module of console support software may need to translate and map the initial logical memory address of said MLIL of the said tasks to another logical memory address. Therefore, the different processes or threads of the same user session can effectively share and access the same actual memory object of the said MLIL of an user session.
 13. The deploying multi-layered item list of claim 7, step e) further includes steps that a) The said memory management module of console support software of control management station will delete the said MLIL of said task whenever either the user logout from WCUWE of CCDSVM or user try to access a totally not related another resources on a targeted system. b) If a MLIL is deleted due to the user access the said another resources on a targeted system, a new MLIL shall be created and the steps specified in claim 7 can be repeated. Deploying multi-layered items list for the automatically & dynamically provisioned groups of systems in WCUWE of CCDSVM:
 14. The methods of claim 2 further include the steps of displaying, accessing, and operating the said multiple service groups of system units and their resources by using the MLIL. a) The console support software modules of control management station creates the MLIL in memory during executing the task of the user's requests for accessing the said network information on control management station. b) The said MLIL being created and ordered with top-down fashion, which has system-group at top level, system unit nodes at second level under each group nodes, and various devices or file system, and all other resources nodes start from third level under system unit node and so on. c) The console support software modules of control management station may associate with a different type of operation menu and bind with various attributes and graphic or text information for each node on said MLIL with different level or type during task executing. d) The console support software modules of control management station convert all said network information associated with said MLIL on control management station to standard structured format for web communication and displaying. e) The console support software modules of control management station execute the requested tasks on target system and provide response back to user's web browser by transmitting the converted standard structured format via data flow path along with communication link of the CCDSVM. f) The said steps a) to e) of this claim may be repeated as long as user continue to access the said network information of control management station.
 15. The automatic and dynamic provisioned groups of claim 14, further include that a) The WCUWE of CCDSVM provides users efficient way of accessing to the said network information of CCDSVM. From said network information, user can select to access and operate resources for a specific system group, and further down to select an individual system unit, and further down to select an specific devices or file system on each individual system unit and goes on further and further. b) At system unit level, the WCUWE of CCDSVM can execute the prominent task whenever user request to check targeted system status, to shutdown or reboot targeted system, to change usage of targeted system etc. within entire CCDSVM by mouse clicking on node of MLIL. c) At storage device level, the WCUWE of CCDSVM can execute the prominent tasks whenever user request to create, delete, merge, or split storage volume on storage media such as disk, and to create file system on a selected storage volume for targeted system of CCDSVM by mouse clicking on node of MLIL. d) At file system level, the WCUWE of CCDSVM can execute the task whenever user request to mount and un-mount file system, create folder structure, move data file into folder, transfer file from one targeted system to another, and to perform all file and folder operations for entire targeted system of CCDSVM by mouse clicking on node of MLIL. The Global Scalable Secure File Server and WCUWE of CCDSVM:
 16. The automatic and dynamic provisioned groups of item c) and item d) of claim 15 and the user security and authentication profile of claim 6 further include that a) The WCUWE of CCDSVM provides users to create and manage a virtual file server on top of group of system units and control management station, where each system unit and control management station provides one or multiple file systems on top of their native local storage media such as disks. b) The said virtual file server can be automatically and dynamically expanded, and be scale up along with adding more system units crossing Intranet, Internet, or LAN whenever there is a needs. c) The users can access and manage the said virtual file server from web browser anywhere on the net after a successful login. Further, user can access or manage a specific file system, file folder, or file either on system unit or control management station by walking through the said MLIL of the said network information on control management station. d) The said management of the said virtual file server includes storage volumes creating, deleting, merging, splitting, and displaying on storage media such as disk drives, which is local to each system unit or control management station. e) The said management of file system, file folder, and file include to create file system, mount file system, create file folder structure, and delete or add or copy & past, rename and move for files or folders. In addition the said management also include transfer files between systems of CCDSVM. f) The said user access the virtual file server includes the software of CCDSVM transferring the file from target system to client host and further to be accessed by user. g) The said privileged user can easily to set the user access control permission for a specific folder or file on a specific system within CCDSVM by walking through the said MLIL of the said network information on control management station. After setup security access control on a file folder or file for a specific user, the information of the said user access control permission can be stored in said user security profile. The Path of Data Flow in CCDSVM
 17. The CCDSVM provide flexible data paths between control management station, system units, console host and client host, which comprises: a) Data path 1, with which the data flow through communication link between the web handling software (web server & console support software) of control management station and the web browser of client host or console host or control management station. The communication protocol used for transmitting data through said data path I could be HTTP, WAP, SOAP, or any other suitable protocols for web communication, which could successfully transmit the data on web. b) Data Path 2, with which data flow through communication link between console support software of control management station and service modules of system units. The communication protocol used for transmitting data through said data path 2 could be IP based or non-IP-based protocols depend on the actual requirement of efficiently transmitting the data. c) The data path 3, with which the data flow through communication link between service modules of system units 3 and the web browser of client host or console host or control management station. The communication protocol used for transmitting data through said data path 3 could be HTTP, WAP, SOAP, or any other suitable protocols for web communication, which could successfully transmit the data on web. d) The data path 4, with which the data flow directly through communication link between service modules of system unit 3 and service modules of another system unit
 3. The communication protocols for the said data path 3 could be IP-base or any suitable non-IP-based protocol. The Variation of CCDSVM and its WCUWE
 18. The CCDSVM could be degenerated into a single system (the control management station standby itself) when there is no any system unit join the CCDSVM through the network. In this case, the WCUWE still works for control management station, which means user from web-browser of console host or client host or control management station can access and operate the entire resource on control management station.
 19. A CCDSVM may have client host and system unit to have equal role if both of them configured with identical service modules (which use to be only on system unit) and web browser (which use to be only on client host). Therefore, users, who are local to either client host or system unit and with right permission, can access other systems within CCDSVM.
 20. A CCDSVM may have client host, which has its own specialized service modules (not those service modules on system unit) for non-web based accessing. The Software of WCUWE of CCDSVM
 21. The software of WCUWE can be implemented with any suitable or a combination of any suitable programming languages such C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, HTML, XML, etc., which means that software of WCUWE is programming language independent. The software of WCUWE may comprise: a) Web server interface modules of console support software on control management station. b) Control management modules of console support software on control management station. c) Web server software on control management station. The said web server software could be an commercial software on the marketing such as Apache or MS IIS or others, and also could be a proprietary software. If the said web server interface modules of control management station provides compatible functionality with said Web server software, then there is no need for web server software. d) Service software modules on system unit. The said service software modules may also consist of a said web server software or a proprietary software module, which provide equivalent functionality of the said web server software. e) Web browser on console host or on control management station or on client host
 10. The said web browser could be a commercial web browser on the market such as MS IE, or Netscape, and also could be proprietary software modules.
 22. The software of CCDSVM of claim 21 and the variation of CCDSVM and its WCUWE of claim 18-20 further include that with various configuration of the CCDSVM, the software of CCDSVM may also have certain variation depends on the configuration and the application. 